First Round Shuffle

After yesterday’s puzzling trade of draft picks between the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia, eight teams now have two picks in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. A corresponding eight teams have no picks in the first round. With just over three weeks until the draft, eleven first round picks have been traded. Two of those picks have been traded twice. 

That puzzling trade. As a result of previous trades with the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins, the Eagles had three picks in the first round. 

#15

#16 

#19

The Saints, sitting at #18, apparently wanted to be part of the two-pick club. So much so that they traded several picks to get the necessary picks. 

Saints get:

#16

#19

2022 sixth-round - #194

Eagles get:

#18

2022 third-round - #101

2022 seventh-round - #237

2023 first-round pick

2024 second-round pick

Basically, the Saints paid third- and second-round picks over two years to move next year’s first-round pick to this year. The Eagles still have four first-round over the next two years. The Saints still have two first-round picks over the next two years. I get what the Eagles did. I don’t get what the Saints did. They must have a plan and that plan is clearly focused on the present and in this draft. 

It’s strange to see mid-round picks exchanged like this. I can’t recall ever seeing such a trade weeks before the draft. 

So, eight teams have two first-round picks. 

New York Giants:

#5 - their own

#7 - from the Chicago Bears (Justin Fields)

New York Jets:

#4 - their own

#7 - from the Seattle Seahawks (Jamal Adams)

Houston Texans:

#3 - their own

#13 - from the Cleveland Browns (DeSahun Watson)

Philadelphia Eagles:

#15 - from the Miami Dolphins (Jaylen Waddle)

#18 - from the New Orleans Saints

New Orleans Saints:

#16 - from the Eagles through the Colts (Carson Wentz)

#19 - from the Eagles

Green Bay Packers:

#22 - from the Las Vegas Raiders (Davante Adams)

#28 - their own

Kansas City Chiefs:

#29 - from the Dolphins through the San Francisco 49ers (Tyreek Hill/Trey Lance)

#30 - their own

Detroit Lions:

#2 - their own

#32 - from the Los Angeles Rams (Matthew Stafford)

That’s a lot of shuffling of the first round. Between now and through the first round, there’s sure to be further shuffling. 

Teams without first round picks:

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Cleveland Browns

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

Las Vegas Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

Los Angeles Rams

Speaking of multiple first-round picks. Five teams already have multiple first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Detroit Lions (Stafford)

Houston Texans (Watson)

Miami Dolphins (Lance)

Philadelphia Eagles (Saints)

Seattle Seahawks (Russell Wilson)